Tyson Fury beats Wladimir Klitschko to take world heavyweight title

Nothing lasts forever.
Even Wladimir Klitschko’s heavyweight title reign.

Numbers rarely tell the whole story, but with Klitschko, the numbers are getting to be fairly preposterous – 9 and a half years without interruption; eighteen successful defenses.

The fight stats

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2015

Landed: Klitschko: 52 Fury: 86

Power blows: Klitschko: 18 Fury: 48

Thrown: Klitschko: 69 Fury: 202

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury

After Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) had broken down Wladimir Klitschko’s (64-4, 53 KOs) resistance, he broke down in tears, and then broke into song. All week the 27-year-old from Morecambe had promised he would show the world that Klitschko was too old and too slow for him. And now here he was, the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion of the world, relishing every second of his triumph by singing Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” at the top of his voice.

“Technically speaking, Wladimir is much more sound than Tyson Fury,” former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis told HBO.com. “But one thing Fury has got is gusto. If Fury has got enough focus and accuracy to hit Wladimir, if he is able to hit him and create a cut or a bruise or a busted lip, it should be an interesting fight.”

What ultimately matters is that at the end of 12 largely execrable rounds, Klitschko—cut and bloodied on both cheeks—had suffered his first defeat in 11 years. And Tyson Fury—and this cannot be repeated often enough, because repetition is surely the fastest way to reach acceptance—was the heavyweight champion of the world.

Watch 12th round fight Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury here .